Olympic Airways: A History

The Olympic Airways story has fascinated Graham M. Simons for many years. This new book represents the culmination of decades spent researching the history of this fascinating Greek airline. It is a story of evolution, conflict, personality and politics, all set against a backdrop of world and civil wars, coups and countercoups.

During the course of his research, it became apparent to the author that many of the fine details pertaining to the company weren’t widely known, although almost everyone had heard of the towering, controversial, leading figurehead who oversaw much of the central part of the story: Aristotle Socrates Onassis. His colorful life is threaded through this history, lending it drama and multiple levels of intrigue.

The airline’s story cannot be told in isolation. Olympic did not spring fully formed into being in 1957. The named company may have come into being then, but its roots were set much further back in history through a number of predecessor airlines—both national and international—who had been using the Hellenic Republic and Athína as the crossroads of the air for the Eastern Mediterranean since the dawn of aviation.

This is the story of the birth and dramatic life of an airline with a checkered, controversial and complicated history. Graham M. Simons has skillfully woven all the various threads to create a powerful and important historic record.